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Gaignun Kukai Jr.
Gaignun Kukai Jr., simply called Jr. (Junior) and originally named Rubedo, is a director of the Kukai Foundation, an organization based on Second Miltia. Jr. is a major playable character in the Xenosaga series. He appears to be a child, and is thought by the public to be the adopted son of his fellow director, Gaignun Kukai (thus his alias, Gaignun Kukai Jr.). However, he is actually Gaignun's older brother. Personality While Jr. looks like a child, and can act rashly, he is also capable of making tough decisions and cutting observations. He also has a fondness for antique guns, action movies, and collecting classic novels and literature, including Robinson Crusoe, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Jr. suffers from emotional trauma and guilt for abandoning Albedo and the U.R.T.V.s during the Miltian Conflict, leaving hundreds of them to die. The U.R.T.V.s were Jr.'s brothers and Jr. was the leader responsible for their safety and protection. Because of the emotional pain, Jr. halted his growth. Jr. dislikes being called Rubedo because it brings back painful memories for him. Because of his hobbies Jr. is a master of gunplay, especially with pistols and enjoys fighting akimbo. At the beginning of Xenosaga Episode I, Jr. carries a pair of Rook Company pistols. However later, and in Episode II he wields two antique Makarov pistols, which are mistranslated as "Makalov" in the English version likely due to the lack of the "r" in Japanese. The Makarov was originally a soviet built pistol, taken from designs acquired from the Third Reich at the end of World War II. The Makarov is a 9x18mm caliber. Background Childhood Rubedo was a survivor of the U.R.T.V. (U-DO Retro Virus) unit created by the scientist Dmitri Yuriev to combat U-DO, a mysterious waveform that threatened to destroy the galaxy. Rubedo's unit number as a U.R.T.V. was 666. He possesses the unique abilities of all U.R.T.V.s, including telepathy and various telekinetic powers. However, despite being a "Designer Child", he was born with his twin brother, Albedo Piazzolla, attached to him through the heart. Albedo's heart was attached to Rubedo's back until the 28th week. This problem that was remedied when they were separated, though Rubedo could still sense Albedo's heartbeat. Albedo defended Jr. from the bullying of the non-variant U.R.T.V.s, and was horrified when he learned Jr. could die. He is the strongest U.R.T.V., vessel to a power none of the others possess, including the other variants, and reputed to have the one perfect anti-U-DO wavelength, and was therefore made their leader. Although to date he hardly uses his unique powers compared to his living brothers instead preferring to fight with his guns or machines, Albedo states that Rubedo is weaker than he was before either indicating a lax in training or that he himself has become much stronger. A bit of both but more the former. Rubedo, while his formerly conjoined twin brother was called Albedo, U.R.T.V. #667. The last brother was Nigredo, who later became known as Gaignun Kukai. Juli Mizrahi requested Rubedo to dive into her daughter Sakura's subconscious domain and clear the U.M.N. and U-DO pulses that seemed to resonate within her mind. The boys made a mistake with their coordinates and ended up materializing in her closet. After breaking down the closet door because Albedo became frightened of the dark, the three stumbled into her bedroom and woke Sakura, a projection of inner self that could respond to them and talk. When Rubedo tried to push his brothers back into the closet so they could leave and reenter her consciousness correctly, she spoke, surprising the trio and herself as they could hear her voice, and began to cry of joy. She and the boys talked for a short while, and she told Rubedo to tell her mother, who could not dive into her daughter's consciousness, that she loved her, and the boys left. It was during these tests that Sakura met Rubedo and fell in love with him. Sakura is one of Rubedo's deepest personal connections. Rubedo promised Sakura that he would take care of MOMO for her. Militan Conflict During the Miltian Conflict, Rubedo and the other U.R.T.V.s fought against U-DO before the planet's disappearance into the void. As leader of the U.R.T.V.s, Rubedo was responsible for keeping them connected through a spiritual link, which would protect them from U-DO's destructive powers. A moment before the U.R.T.V.s were to destroy U-DO, Rubedo had a vision of the Old Miltian planet being destroyed when something monstrous emerged from within. Rubedo, fearing for the lives of his companions, broke the Spiritual Link, leaving the other U.R.T.V.s with no protection against U-DO. U-DO slew or drove mad all of the standard U.R.T.V.s, as well as Albedo during the fighting, Rubedo carried an injured Nigredo several minutes before Canaan and chaos rescued the U.R.T.V. duo on the E.S. Asher. Therefore, the only documented surviving U.R.T.V.s were Nigredo and Rubedo, though Albedo survived as well. U.R.T.V. #668 Citrine secretly survived the Miltian Conflict as well. Xenosaga Episode I Jr. is attacked by a U-TIC Organization battleship while investigating the Woglinde for any signs of the Zohar Emulator. Jr. and Mary Godwin escape the U-TIC battleship with a significant amount of U-TIC information. The Elsa and the party are rescued by Jr. and the Durandal starship, which was passing by in search for the Emulator. Jr. apprehends the Zohar Emulator from the destroyed Cathedral Ship and explains that he now has the twelve Emulators created by scientist Joachim Mizrahi (MOMO's creator). However, Emulators are only contain a fraction of the power that is housed by the Original Zohar, trapped on Old Miltia. Jr. takes them back to the Kukai Foundation, where the party is introduced to Jr.'s fellow U.R.T.V. unit, Gaignun Kukai. Eventually, the Galaxy Federation places charges on the Kukai Foundation for the destruction of the Woglinde, due to some manipulation by U-TIC officials and insiders. In order to prove innocence, Shion Uzuki leads a dive into the Encephalon to find KOS-MOS' black box, which will prove that the Gnosis were responsible. In the Encephalon, the party relives childhood memories, including the Miltian Conflict. Furthermore, Shion is encountered by Febronia, who explains that a time will come where KOS-MOS will encounter the wave existence U-DO, and in the near future, Shion will free her "sisters". Febronia also states that all factions involved must travel to Old Miltia. When Jr. encounters Albedo on the Song of Nephilim, Albedo obtains the Y-Data. On the Proto Merkabah, Albedo gets Jr. to admit his guilt for abandoning the U.R.T.V.s during the Miltian Conflict. Xenosaga Episode II On Second Miltia, on the way to Juli Mizrahi to return MOMO Mizrahi, Jr., MOMO, Ziggy, and chaos are chased by U-TIC operatives wishing to capture MOMO once again. However, the attacks are thwarted. Eventually, both Jr. and Shion's parties are reunited during MOMO's analysis of the Y-Data via the U.M.N. During the analysis, Albedo gains control and dives into MOMO's subconscious via the Encephalon. The party follows; Jr. experiences the history behind the U.R.T.V. units, which include him, Albedo, Gaignun Kukai, and Citrine, as well as his relationship with Sakura Mizrahi. However, the party is too late; Albedo manages to unlock the safeguard on the Y-Data and open up Old Miltia. Eventually, Shion and her allies enter the Omega System and confront the Patriarch, who is also confronted by a dying Albedo. The Testaments defeat the Patriarch and revive Albedo so that he can morph Miltian space into a space-time anomaly. Jr. enters this anomaly, hoping to put a stop to Albedo's madness. Albedo manipulates the anomaly to taunt Jr., showing him revised memories to make Jr. hate him. Albedo constantly dared Jr. to kill him, almost as if he wanted to die. He claimed that Jr. was the only one who could kill him. Despite Sakura's sacrificing herself to save him, Albedo told Jr. that he killed Sakura, hoping he would become angry enough to kill him, but his false claim was dismissed. Jr. finally reaches Albedo and enters Red Dragon Mode, a powerful ability that only Jr. possesses. Albedo tells Jr. of his plans, to shove the entire universe into a higher-order domain, where everyone will be fused into one perfect existence. Albedo provokes Jr. into a fight, during which Albedo taunts Jr. mercilessly in an effort to get Jr. to land a killing blow. Jr. happily obliges and defeats his brother. As the Space-Time Anomaly crumbles, Albedo warns Jr. to beware Gaignun's shadow. Although Albedo, fused with U-DO, could have simply annihilated himself, he specifically chose Jr. to use the Red Dragon Mode to destroy him. Jr. becomes confused and upset. However, an incarnation of Sakura appears and comforts him, but her image is quickly replaced by chaos. It is possible that this incarnation of Sakura was an illusion created by chaos to assist Jr. Xenosaga Episode III Jin Uzuki continues to work with Jr. and gang behind the scenes to investigate Ormus while Shion Uzuki returned to Vector Industries with KOS-MOS. A huge mysterious asteroid/landmass appeared in space. Jr. together with MOMO and the Elsa departs to investigate it. When they arrived at the area, they were attacked by Margulis in his E.S. During the battle, the Elsa was damaged and crash-landed on the asteroid, which Margulis refers to as Rennes-le-Château. At this moment, a hypersphere of energy erupted from the landmass. Jr. and gang barely managed to escape to the Durandal. The hypersphere wraps around the landmass, trapping the Elsa in it. Eventually, Dmitri Yuriev takes over Gaignun Kukai. Determined to stop his father, Jr. led the team into the Ark and defeated Yuriev. At the final moment, the White Testament appeared and revealed himself as Albedo. Albedo draws out the Zohar and Abel and sent them away. Together with Jr., they linked up to try to absorb Gaignun (Nigredo)'s will into Jr.'s mind to save him. However, sensing Albedo's wish (that is to kill Nigredo, who was created to kill the Red Dragon, Rubedo aka Jr.), Nigredo forced himself into Albedo's body and transferred Albedo's mind into Jr. Nigredo sacrificed himself and perished together with Dmitri Yuriev. Albedo finally fulfill his wish of psychically linking with Jr. and disappeared into Jr.'s consciousness. Just before Albedo disappeared, he informed Jr. that the Zohar and Abel was sent to the planet Michtam. The team left for Michtam in the Elsa, in which its space was currently engulfed in a fierce battle by the Ormus fleet and the Gnosis. At the end of the game, Jr., Shion and Allen, together with the Elsa, set off to look for Lost Jerusalem. Etymology and influences In Alchemy, the four key processes are named Rubeus (red), Negreus (black), Albeus (white), and Citrineus (yellow) or heating, blackening, reducing to ash, and washing. Rubedo, Negredo, Albiedo, and Citrine are noun forms of those verbs. The name "Rubedo" refers to the philosophic beliefs of Carl Jung (taken from alchemical texts), who believed that the process of self-realization has three major steps, which he named using terms derived from alchemy, which he studied prior to developing his theories. These three steps are known as Negredo, the death of the old, perceived self, Albedo, the discovering of one’s inner identity, and Rubedo, the process of living a self-aware life. Gaignun shares his name with the horse Roland, a general of medieval French King Charlemange and wielder of the legendary blade Durandal rode into battle on. Jr. and Gaignun both raised a cat named Gaignun, which is the origin of Nigredo's alias. Kukai is also the name of a famous Japanese Buddhist monk; Buddhist undertones can also be seen in Xenosaga. 666 is the number of the Beast (also called the Anti-Christ), a seven-headed emissary of the Devil in the Book of Revelation and alongside his power of the Red Dragon Jr. is set up as a demonic character superficially but lacks any such personality traits. However, the comparison to the anti-christ is fitting considering he was designed to produce the anti-wave of U-DO, a god. Quotes * "Well, guess I'm gonna get some exercise after all!" * "I got no time for wusses like you!" * "Heh, this is gonna be fun..." * "There's no turning back! Let's do it!" * "That was too easy!" * "Alright! Let's call it a day!" * "Sayonara, baby." * "Dang... that was embarrassing...!" * "Ugh... not good...!" * "*Phew* Thought I was a goner..." * "Take this!" * "Ether Drive!" * "Watch this! I'm gonna take 'em out, right now!" * "Look! It's got a good luck phrase on it! Sayonara Baby!" (giving MOMO a bullet bracelet charm) * "I'll take a clean shot. I'll make sure she doesn't suffer." (to MOMO about euthanizing Kirsch in the anime) * "Nah, nah, it's just... I don't have a lot of good memories of that name. Names tend to link themselves to memories, both good and bad." (after MOMO asks if she can call him Rubedo) * "Huh? You're praying? Your chest? You're playing the drums? Man, I give up! What are you trying to say, Shion?" (Shion does charades) * "I should have known. You know, pretending to be cold and emotionless is only going to end up hurting you in the end." (to Juli about MOMO) * "Even our hearts might be nothing more than playthings created by God. I can't watch. I'm scared. I'm a... coward." * "We didn't understand... there was no way we could have understood... We couldn't know what it was like to have a body that wouldn't die." (regarding Albedo's suffering) * "You damn bitch!" (to Orgulla) * "I'll atone for my past mistakes. But I will not do it by killing Albedo... Instead, I'll make him stop this insanity!" * "Let go of Sakura!" (to Albedo) * "You're right! I am a weapon! Every cell in my body is aching for a fight!" * "Yeah. It was fun. My blood danced in my veins. We really are nothing more than instruments of war." * "Sakura, you're right! I promised I'd protect your sister... didn't I? I couldn't protect my younger brother. But there are still people I care about who I can protect." * "You filthy bastard!" (to Yuriev) * "Give back Gaignun's body and get the hell out of here!" Trivia *As stated by the developers, Jr. was supposed to be physically mature in Episode II before the final version of the script was produced. Gallery Xenosaga Episode I Jr1Art.jpg|Art. Song2.jpg|Art. Jr.png|Art. Bet.png|Betty and Jr. xenosaga88118.png|''Xenosaga I & II''. C_jr.jpg|''Xenosaga I & II''. 12a.jpg|''Xenosaga I & II''. Kiss.png|Sakura kisses Rubedo. Xenosaga: The Animation RuSa.png|Rubedo and Sakura. JrDur.png|Jr. on the Durandal. JrCry.png|Jr. crying. RubedoDream.png|Rubedo in Albedo's dream. JrAlbedo.png|Jr. and Albedo. Xenosaga Episode II Jr2Ver2.png|Model. JrConcept.jpg|Concept art. Jr2Conceptg.jpg|Concept art. Jr0.png|Art. 28.png|A flashback of Rubedo holding Gaignun in the Miltian Conflict. JrPope.gif|Jr. shoots the Pope. MOMOJrCute.jpg|MOMO and Jr. Alby.jpg|Jr. and Alby. Pose.gif|Jr. posing. Xenosaga Episode III Jr3Concept.jpg|Concept art. JRart.png|Concept art. JRart2.png|Concept art. JrSwimArt.png|Swimsuit concept art. JrViewer.jpg|Model. JrURTV.jpg|U.R.T.V. uniform. JrSwimsuit.jpg|Swimsuit. Mai1.png|Mai Magus prevents Jr. from entering Dabrye Mine. 34.png|Jr. shooting at Voyager. JrGroup.png|Jr. with the group. JrWin.gif|Jr. wins a battle. Rub.png|Jr.'s adult form. Ru.png|Jr.'s adult form. Category:Characters Category:Male characters Category:Playable characters Category:U.R.T.V. units